Energy Alliance Policy Director Bill Peacock is fuming that already hard-hit Texans will be left paying the price for last month’s winter storm after the Public Utility Committee (PUC) said it does not plan to reverse the billions of dollars power companies were overcharged during the power outage.
“The PUC should have never increased the price of electricity--it failed to bring any more generation online,” Peacock posted on Twitter. “Its refusal to fix its mistake will put billions of dollars into the pockets of generators and Wall Street bankers at the expense of Texas consumers."
According to reports, residents were overcharged at least $16 billion in electricity sales during the time and immediate aftermath of the storm.
Energy Alliance Policy Director Bill Peacock
| linkedin.com/in/bill-peacock-1a12526
Potomac Economics, the PUC's Independent Market Monitor, reports it found prices were kept at the $9,000 per megawatt hour cap for 32 hours longer than needed by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT).
Still, new PUC chairman Arthur D’Andrea defended the agency’s decision by insisting “it’s dangerous to do, too, after something has been run to go around and redo it,” KHOU reported.
D’Andrea later added, “We don’t see all the hedges and stuff beneath the surface and so you don’t know who you’re hurting and you think you’re protecting the consumer and it turns out you’re bankrupting a co-op or a city.”
The state of Texas began subsidizing renewable energy with renewable energy credits more than two decades ago. Soon after the Texas Legislature authorized the creation of $13 billion CREZ lines for wind and solar.
Energy Alliance contends its all comes with a price.
“The distortions caused by the rapid growth of wind and solar generation are significantly decreasing the reliability of the electricity grid, the agency posted on its website.
"The PUC has been wedded to corporate interests for years," Peacock said in another tweet. “Whether traditional or renewable, generators have ruled the roost. The cost to Texas consumers totals over $20 billion. End PUC's electricity tax. We need markets, not corporate welfare.”
